Episode Three: Codex and Entries

The time has come for Week Three of Ghosts of Eternity: Tidings of the Dark Shores to pass us by like a ship in the night.

This week, the forum has been a bit on the quiet side, but that does not by any way mean that we've gone without having some excitement both in and out of the game. Enraged by the sight of an Oriel chapel desecrated by a fire supposedly caused by a fire elemental, Josarus and his new-found allies head to the Stonewatch Tavern: a repurposed old watchtower converted into a popular watering hole, where the failed Oriel missionary Pastor Vindasi drowns his sorrows and stoops in paranoia. After he reveals what he knows of the elemental, the pastor leads Josarus to his room in order to hand the replacement his coveted Testament of Oriel; the most holy scripture of their religion. No sooner do they go upstairs when a mysterious assassin hired to put an end to one of them starts a melee in the bar to mask the eventual slaughter. But to the trained killer's surprise, the room holding her prey is empty...

While the forums have been relatively quiet, the behind-the-scenes work has been nonstop as we prepare for our first major quest and I work on more materials for the world at large. In preparation for our adventure, I have just finished a sample adversary roster and beastiary. While most games tend to lump all combatants into one general list, I thought it was best to divide the various foes that can be encountered between those who represent the intelligent races, and those wild beasts or cunning animals who would seek to do us harm. There of course, is always the gray area of the undead, but I'm also working on this category as well. After all, the impact of magic on a world where it is not native is always unpredictable at best. And at worst, it can be downright disastrous.

In the spirit of expanding the world, I've also begun work on a comprehensive codex for Ghosts of Eternity; chronicling some of the choice literature penned throughout the history of Cinina and Lourayene. From religious scripture to poems, essays, ballads, historical texts, children stories and travel guides, codex entries can provide anything from background and history to a light-hearted chuckle. Some may even offer clues to a powerful item or places long forgotten by traditional history. Be sure to be on the lookout for these texts, since you never know what they may contain!

A few weeks ago, the administrator for Fantasy-Faction.com announced on his site that Fantasy-Faction is releasing an anthology that consists of short stories and articles. It is my pleasure to announce that I intend to and will be submitting the Ghosts of Eternity short story The Goddess Lament to see if it can become a part of this anthology! With any luck we will hear soon. In the meantime, I will continue writing the first Ghosts of Eternity novel and possibly submit the short story to other magazines for publishing. If anyone has any suggestions for possible magazines, let me know in the comment section.

Another item of note is that I am also in the process of adjusting some of the races to better fit my vision for Ghosts of Eternity. These changes will, for the most part, not affect how we play the game for now. When I do make these alterations, I will make announcements here on the blog.

One final mention before we close out this week's entry is that starting this week we will be holding the first official contest for Ghosts of Eternity: The Great (De)Motivator!

The rules for this contest are simple: create and submit a motivational or demotivational poster for Ghosts of Eternity to ghostsofeternity@live.com. These posters can be either funny or serious, and can be related to the races, classes and professions, abilities, deities, history (that you're familiar with) or your own personal experiences with the game! Here's an example for you:

Remember to have fun with your submissions! I will announce a winner on the March 9th edition of Forum Friday! Grand Prize is your character will have a featured cameo in the first Ghosts of Eternity novel!

That's all for now, everyone. Remember to keep playing and stay tuned for more updates!

Episode Two: Murder, Elementals, and... Cat People?

With Week One drawing to a close, we've already had quite a bit of excitement, and some new ideas come about. I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has participated and given me feedback either in person or over MSN and Steam. The enthusiasm you guys have brought has helped encourage me to continue working on this project and make Ghosts of Eternity even better!

In our first week, our heroes have arrived at the port town of Havenport; a ramshackle pit of a community whose only claims to fame or reasons anyone would travel there is for the beautiful capital city of Ailenvaile in the distance. Desperate to leave these squalid conditions, the apothecary Tristram tried to flee the town after being swarmed by the populace, only to find a grisly murder scene. Meanwhile, the Oriel acolyte Josarus led a group of fellow travelers to the local Oriel chapel with the hopes of finding free food and lodging for the time being while he began the process of taking over the congregation. To his abject horror and disgust, the chapel he discovered was incinerated in what everyone says was the work of a fire elemental. Furious and realizing that there is more work to be done than he thought possible, Josarus set out to speak with the chapel's former pastor in order to gain a semblance of understanding and control.

As I said earlier, the enthusiasm that people have had when it comes to posting has been very impressive to me, and while we did have some early kinks to work out, it seems that pretty much everyone has gotten into the swing of posting with the Heading. Now that we have been playing for this long, how does everyone feel about the Heading? Is there anything that needs to be improved on?

Even with the initial start of the game, I'm currently hard at work on finding ways to improve it and expand on the system. Rob had earlier expressed concern regarding the mechanics of Dodge and Rolling when surprised, and so now I am working on adding those to fall under the umbrella of the Coordination Aspect. In addition, the Search, Listen and Spot Checks will be modified to work under the Logic Aspect, as one with a keen mind would be better at spotting things. This means that Coordination and Logic would provide a bonus modifier to these rolls, although I will still need to work on this mechanic in order to get it right before introducing it.

At the moment I am in the midst of writing the Core Rulebook for Ghosts of Eternity, which will include all of the material I am working on right now. For now my focus is turned to the basic gameplay mechanics and the role of the Narrator (Game Master). For this I would like to give credit to both Megan and Chelsie, as they helped inspire a new idea for the Narrator, which I will unveil later on.

Another new development is a racial idea brought to us by Megan, which I would like to present to the group. The other day Megan suggested the idea of a feline race, which we have been working on together. And thus we now present the gataen. Hailing from the subcontinent of Gatalia, the gataen are a rare and secluded race who have favored a policy of isolation towards the other races following the collapse of their empire in Lourayene. As of late, some gataen have been spotting sporadically around the world, but none have stepped forward to reveal their motives. What reason could the gataen have for taking an interest in the affairs of others? What does this mean for the races?

One final piece of news is that work continues on the wargame following a short break to recharge our creative juices. Many thanks goes out to Andy for his new ideas, which we may reveal more on at a later date.

As of the writing of this blog there is no clear winner for EPW, but if you would like to cast your votes please let me know by tonight.

That's all for now. Keep enjoying yourselves, my friends!

Episode One: The First of Many

Welcome to Forum Fridays; a new weekly blog from the creative team behind the world of Ghosts of Eternity! If you are reading this, then you are among the privileged members who have been given the chance to partake in the Ghosts of Eternity forum. With the relaunch of the forum after its prolonged hiatus and the intention to improve the game and world, I felt it would be fun (and I hope a bit informative) to chronicle new updates and the like in this blog, which will be updated - as the title would suggest - every Friday for as regular as time and convenience would allow. There may be some weeks where nothing of notice might go by, or times when an update would have to wait for Saturdays or even Sundays, but for the most part I will try to stay committed to a Friday schedule.

As everyone who would have searched the site by now noticed, the game has changed quite a bit since the first incarnation over three years ago. In the spirit of this change and evolution, the story of our latest adventures will start in a region called the Shatter Isles; the broken remnants of a continent that was ravaged by the introduction of magic to the world. While most islands are independent states intertwined through alliances of trade and convenience as the need arises, there are countless landmasses - both charted and unexplored - covered with wild-choked ruins and filled with strange creatures born from the lingering energies in the air. Some islands even exist in both the world of Maendun and the mysterious world of the Fae, but none have dared to explore those lest they find themselves trapped between both worlds.

Perhaps these ruins and wonders are your reason for coming to the island-state of Ailenvaile. Or perhaps a sense of ambition fueled your departure with the intent to claim a stake in the lucrative commerce? Could the allure of the Shatter Isle's wilderness lured you in, or do you run from your past with the hopes of making your living with a fresh name and old habits?

Alas, for now whatever your hopes and dreams were within this land, they may all be for naught. For no sooner did your ship enter the waters of Havenport did the Galleon Scorpion sail out to greet you, escorting the ship you're traveling on to the ports of the Maw; the great harbor of Havenport, and by extension, Ailenvaile. To your surprise, you discover that your ship is not isolated in this situation, as every ship in the harbor is unloading its passengers and crew, with none taking on any. The Scorpion and a pair of Galleys sit at the opening of the Maw, daring ships to make their move. It is then you realize that the harbor is being blockaded, and even if you wished to leave, there is no way out.

What could have prompted such a blockade? Why has the city taken such a violent precaution? Are they striving to protect the wayward merchants, travelers and pilgrims? Or... are they trying to keep them in?

What mysteries will you uncover in your journeys? Are there great enemies to slay or conspiracies to unravel? Or are you content to stay in this city as it is, and make the best of a bad situation? The choices are yours - as are the boons and banes that come with them.

This is the set-up for this new season of Ghosts of Eternity: Tidings of the Dark Shores. Every week, I will be posting the progress of the story in this blog, including highlights, lowlights, triumphs and pitfalls for the characters.

While most of what I have said is devoted to the forum-based roleplaying game, there are many aspects to look at for the Ghosts of Eternity universe. First and foremost are the projects for GoE: the roleplaying games, the wargame, and the tie-in novel series. At the moment, I am working on the tabletop version of the Ghosts of Eternity game. There has already been one session of this game, and I hope that the group that has been gracious enough to test the game would like to continue on with that process. Although the first game was not as successful as I had hoped, it still inspired me to create a tie-in novel series following our first characters on their adventures. Last, but most certainly not in the least important position, is the wargame that is the brainchild of our forum's resident British person and my right-hand man in this endeavor; Andrew. Andrew is working on the mechanics for the wargame, while I will be contributing the lore and geography. As Ghosts of Eternity is an ever-evolving work-in-progress, I will also write about any new changes I have made or materials that expand on the universe at large.

That being said, although I am working on most of this material by myself, this is by no means a one-man crew. Indeed, this whole endeavor would be for nothing if it was not for the help, encouragement, and feedback I've gotten from my fellow GoE members. I have already mentioned the exploits of Andrew, but I would be remiss - and in a lot of trouble - if I did not mention the other crew members. Megan has been a pillar of support and ideas since the first days of the game, especially with the Mage profession and much of the history, while Chelsie has been instrumental in helping me figure out some nuances and also helping me realize GoE's design aesthetic. Everyone who has been a member has aided in the growth of Ghosts of Eternity, and for their continued support and enthusiasm, I am forever grateful.

In addition to these game updates, which may be infrequent considering I'd want to hammer them out first, there will also be new forum news and updates posted here in the blog as well. Each episode will feature the Hot Topic; a special spotlight on a thread that has garnered some popularity and discussion upon the board. Winners of the Epic Pic of the Week will be announced every Friday, and every first Friday of the month will include the new Item of the Month that will be auctioned off in the Auction House. Last, but not least will be Suggestion Box; a section devoted to addressing some of the questions, comments, and suggestions people leave in the Suggestion Box thread or write in OOC posts.

Once again, I would like to thank each and every one of you for becoming a part of the Ghosts of Eternity forum. It is because of each and every one that I get up in the morning and think, write and discuss this all hours of the day until I finally hit the pillow to dream of new plans. Granted, I may still be doing it, but not with this sort of conviction. This game and world would be nothing if not for your interest, participation and dedication. For those are things that make all the difference in the world.

To our veterans and returning players, welcome back and thank you for putting up with my delays. To our newcomers, welcome and enjoy the Ghosts of Eternity.